


i don't think it's a crime

by tattooedskins



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Jehyuck, M/M, Nohyuck, They're rising, but barely, underaged drinking
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-09-01
Updated: 2017-09-01
Packaged: 2018-12-22 10:44:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,368
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11965785
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tattooedskins/pseuds/tattooedskins
Summary: Donghyuck glances at the two boys sitting on the marble floor of his kitchen. Jisung asks Chenle if he was alright, to which the boy replies, “I’m bleeding Jisung. I’m fine!”"Jaemin, do something, you watch Grey's Anatomy,” Donghyuck suggests."IT DOESN'T WORK LIKE THAT," Jaemin cries out. He’s holding onto Seonho's arm. He’s always been bad with blood.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Impulse writing oops
> 
> Prompt:
> 
> Donghyuck trespasses into Jeno's house to find a first aid kit.

The bottle continues to spin in the centre of the intoxicated students surrounding it. It comes to a stop, pointing at a junior student that Donghyuck does not know the name of.

"Ok, you..." Donghyuck begins. "Truth or dare?"

"Truth," the boy answers without hesitation.

Everyone had their eyes on Donghyuck, waiting for him to ask the question. He really didn't have one in mind. It was easier to make fun of people he actually knew.

He settles with "Do you think Mark's cute?"

Jaemin lets out a loud cackle across from him, smacking his hand on his thigh. Mark who's beside Jaemin sends a playful glare at Donghyuck's direction, but the senior was awkwardly smiling and attempting to hide a blush at the same time, so the glare didn't have an effect. It usually didn't anyways. Donghyuck really loves fucking with him.

"Take it easy though, Mark's bad with compliments," Seonho informs the boy, who starts to observe Mark from head to toe-- and so does every other person in the circle.

"I mean, sure. Yeah. He's cute."

Jaemin grins at Mark and pats the older's thigh, "Awwww, that's an approval from 0.5% of our school's population!"

Everyone in the circle laugh while Mark tells Jaemin to fuck off.

A random senior- who Donghyuck doesn't know either, but only recognizes his face- volunteers to spin the bottle. It lands on Chenle, a 2nd year who Donghyuck became fond of after working with him for the school's previous musical.

Donghyuck smacks his hands together, "Chenle, baby~ Truth or dare?"

"Dare," the younger says, challenging Donghyuck with his playful eyes and smirk.

Mark raises his right arm to intervene, yelling even though everyone could hear him, "I'll give the dare this time!"

"How dare you in my house?" Donghyuck mutters.

"I don't want him doing anything illegal, and he's like-" Mark pauses and looks at Chenle, squinting his eyes. "Thirteen."

"Dude, I'm fifteen," Chenle deadpans and winks at Donghyuck, which the junior pretends to cringe from, "But seriously, hit me with your best shot."

"My best shot?" Mark repeats. "How about thi-"

"How about no," Donghyuck interrupts, but Mark ignores him.

"Do you have a watermelon in the house?"

"The fuck do you need a watermelon for?" Jaemin asks and Seonho screeches.

Donghyuck frowns at the question, but he decides to entertain the older and just go with it, "I do.. but what are you planning?"

"Chenle, I dare you to cut a watermelon for all of us," Mark says and smiles at everyone in the circle.

"For real?" Vernon says. Samuel nods his head beside Vernon, obviously liking the idea of a watermelon being cut for them.

"I mean, free watermelon. Am I right?"

Chan sighs, "Just get on with it."

Donghyuck stands up to go to the pantry. He calls for Chenle to follow him, while Jisung- a freshman- follows them into the kitchen after Guanlin's suggestion that it's probably safer to have someone there with Chenle for support.

"The knife is in the first drawer beside the oven," he informs them, placing the watermelon on the middle of the island.

"Don't set anything on fire!" they hear Jaemin say from the living room.

They hear a faint reply from Yoojung, "I don't think you can set fire with a watermelon and knife, smartass."

Jisung goes to take a knife from the drawer and Donghyuck watches over them while he leans on the wall.

"Give it to me," Chenle demands reaching out for the knife, which Jisung hands to him. In the wrong way.

Donghyuck watches the whole scene unfold in front of him. The way Chenle grabbed the knife, the sharp part facing his palm. It sliced him right in the middle of it, but it wasn't that deep. It was enough for it to bleed a few seconds later though.

The knife clatters when it hits the floor.

"Fuck!!" Chenle yells and Jisung grabs his wrist in attempt to help, repeatedly apologizing, but it doesn’t stop the bleeding.

"MARK, HE'S BLEEDING," Donghyuck screams, pushing himself off the wall. "I don't know what to do!!!"

Everyone from the living room comes to the kitchen to see what had happened.

"I knew this wasn't going to end well," Somi says from beside Yeri.

Donghyuck glances at the two boys sitting on the marble floor of his kitchen. Jisung asks Chenle if he was alright, to which the boy replies, “I’m bleeding Jisung. I’m fine!”

"Jaemin, do something, you watch Grey's Anatomy,” Donghyuck suggests.

"IT DOESN'T WORK LIKE THAT," Jaemin cries out. He’s holding onto Seonho's arm. He’s always been bad with blood.

"Does anyone have a first aid kit?" Samuel asks. He was the only calm and helpful one at the moment.

"No, fuck. I don't think so. I've never seen one in my house."

"Yes.. I can confirm that he doesn't hav-" Mark looks at Chenle's hand and the once white marble tiles, now a maroon red. "Fuck.. That's a lot of blood."

"Can't we call 911?" Chan suggests.

"We're going to juvie or some shit for underaged drinking. I'd rather not," Vernon shrugs.

Everyone agrees.

"I'll go to the neighbours then," Donghyuck says and goes to the front door to put his slides on. "Please watch over Chenle, I don't want him dying in my home."

 

-

 

  
He checks the front door of his neighbour's house. All the lights were turned off and it seemed like no one was home judging from the empty garage.

Lee Jeno lived there, his childhood friend, or ex-friend he supposes. They don't really acknowledge each other anymore.

Donghyuck decides to go around the house and to the backyard. He makes a beeline from the pool to the sliding door. And the one thing he's proud of learning from Jesus Summer Camp is how to pick a lock.

After playing with the lock, he slides the door open and uses his phone's flashlight to see in the darkness. If his memory was correct from the amount of times he spent playing with Jeno here when they were five years old, the bathroom should just be right around the corner of the kitchen.

Donghyuck proceeds to walk to the hallway, checking to see if anyone was there. What he sees instead are two small circular lights in front of him on the floor. He lets out a loud gasp.

It was just a cat. It's eyes glistening from the light. It looks at him, but it quickly turned around to walk away.

He never knew Jeno had a cat. The last time he checked, Jeno was allergic to cats.

"God," he whispers into nothing and continues to walk.

He goes into the kitchen and towards the bathroom by the end of the hall, but before he gets there something-- someone-- goes behind him. Donghyuck doesn't notice until he's being held in a chokehold.

He lets out a scream and tries to get out of the tight hold but it causes him to almost choke. He violently coughs and manages to yell, "What the fuck! Who are you?"

"I should be the one asking you that. This is my house," the person- Lee Jeno- whispers in his ear. Emphasis on the ‘my house’.

"GOD DAMMIT JENO," Donghyuck cries out. "It's Donghyuck. Please calm down."

Jeno's chokehold softens and he finally lets go, "What the hell though. Why are you here?"

They can't really see each other in the dark, but Donghyuck's flashlight was enough for him to see Jeno's silhouette and his angry face. Although, the anger is basically oozing off his pores. Donghyuck can feel it in the atmosphere.

"I trespassed," Donghyuck says a matter of factly. He scratches the nape of his neck, "Sorry by the way, I just need a first aid kit right now."

He checks the time on his phone and gasps from how long he's been gone. Chenle will probably be fine, but not a lot of the people left in the house are keen of blood.

"I really, really need it right now."

Jeno pushes past him, making Donghyuck stumble a bit. The older boy enters the bathroom and opens the light, exposing his shirtless torso, roots sweatpants, and mismatched socks. Donghyuck tries to not stare at the 6-pack on Jeno's stomach.

"I'm not going to ask- yet," Jeno says as he rummages through the small cabinet at the bottom of the sink. "But I deserve an explanation later on."

Jeno hands the kit to him and Donghyuck grabs it before running towards the back door.

"I promise."

 

  
-

 

 

When Donghyuck gets back home, Chenle's recently bleeding hand was cleansed from the blood and had a ripped fabric wrapped around his palm.

Donghyuck stands at the side of the living room. He blinks at his friends who were oblivious to his presence. They were all too focused on watching Brooklyn 99 on the tv.

"What.." he thinks out loud.

They all turn his attention to him. Samuel takes a bite from his watermelon and Mark chuckles at Donghyuck and at the first aid kit the boy's holding.

"Turns out Seonho has a first aid kit in his bag," Guanlin explains.

"Yeah, I forgot that my mom put it there. Sorry, Hyuck.. You had to go all the way to your neighbours."

"I'm more concerned about why she put a travel friendly first aid kit in your bag," Jaemin laughs and Seonho playful pushes his arm.

Donghyuck looks down at Jeno's first aid kit and lets out a sigh.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Donghyuck explains to Jeno the whole trespassing situation, but there's more than that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had to edit this like 5 times and tried posting it 3 times, but it erased 3/4 of the whole thing..
> 
> because of THE EYE EMOJI, so i had to take it out lol

Donghyuck wakes up late in the afternoon with 12 messages from his phone. He turns on his stomach and buries his chin on his pillow, sliding a finger on the screen while squinting at the bright light.

 

**[September 30th, 10:13am]**

**From: Eomma**

**To: My Son ❤️**

_I’m getting home at 5!_

_Love you._

 

Donghyuck checks the time from the top of his phone’s screen. 3:17pm- he’s safe.

And he doesn’t have any garbage to throw out from last night’s shenanigans because Mark and a few others helped him before they all went home.

He clicks _back_ on his inbox and checks the two links that both lead to an article that Jaehyun, his cousin, sent to him. It talks about how underaged drinking is bad and how drugs can ruin your life. Donghyuck chuckles at that.

Plus there’s 4 spam messages from Chenle.

  

**[September 30th, 1:34pm]**

**From: Dragon Ball Z(hong)**

**To: D-hyuck**

_HYUCK_

_i can still tyoe_

_*type_

_im workung pn it_

 

And there's three from Mark.

 

[ **September 30th, 11:46am]**

**From: Markkeuri**

**To: Hyuck**  

_Oh my god LMAO Seonho took Jaemin home last night after Jaem drank like 2 bottles of soju plus vodka or something_

_He's going to die_  

_Also that's bound to get interesting (eyes emoji)_

 

He doesn't know who Mark was referring to. But in that situation, Seonho's the one who' s mostly likely to die- metaphorically. It really works both ways. They're grateful for Seonho though, he's a great guy and younger than the Jaemin but manages to take care of his always irresponsible ass. 

Donghyuck sends Mark as message saying he should tell him the whole story later on.

He checks the last two messages out of the twelve.. from a number that he hasn't seen for a while, but it was saved as a contact- one that he hasn't thought of actually messaging for a long time.

 

**[September 30th, 9:28am]**

**From: J**

**To: Donghyuck Lee**

_Just a reminder that you have my first aid kit_

_It's Jeno, by the way.. just in case you don't have my number anymore_  

 

Donghyuck rereads it three times before letting out a groan. He has to get his ass up.

 

 

-

 

 

Three knocks on the wooden door of the _other_ Lee household. Donghyuck kicks a rock beside the doormat and stares at his shoes before Jeno opens the door.

Donghyuck turns his attention from his feet to the older boy, “Uh.. hey.”

“I’m assuming you saw my message,” Jeno’s head was popping out the small space from how he holds the door open.

“Yeah. Same number. So is yours.”

“Yeah.. uh-” Jeno starts but was interrupted by a shout from inside the house.

“ _Jeno-ya, who is that?_ ” Donghyuck hears their mother tongue being spoken.

Jeno closes the door for a bit and Donghyuck stands there awkwardly staring at his reflection on the door’s window.

He can hear the faint, “ _It’s no one._ ” (Ouch) before Jeno’s mother, Anne, opens the door and sees him standing at her doorstep. She grins widely when she sees him and he smiles back. Perhaps there was guilt behind the smile he was giving her. Although on the outside, it was a smile that doesn’t show apology or any of the emotions that he feels when he sees Jeno or anyone related to him.

“Donghyuck! I haven’t seen you in a while. _How have you been?_ ”

“I’ve been great. How about you?”

After he stopped interacting with Jeno, his parents and Jeno’s parents never broke contact with each other. It was only really the two children, but they managed to put on a fake act around each other’s families. One where it seemed like they were still friends instead of strangers, which they truthfully are now.

“Good, good. I haven’t seen you in a while. Your parents have been so busy lately. There’s been no time to hang out.”

“Yeah, I’ve been alone lately. My mom actually gets home from London at 5pm today.”

Anne nods her head, “Have you had lunch yet? I cooked a lot today, you’re welcome to come inside.”

Jeno who was standing behind his mom watching them the whole time interjects, “ _I don’t think that’s necessary, mom.._ ”

Anne just swats his hand at him and opens the door wider, and motions for Donghyuck to come inside.

Jeno makes eye contact with him and Donghyuck turns his gaze away and steps inside the house.

He could’ve said “Sorry, I can’t. I’m busy today.” but he felt like he owed Anne something. His presence, even if it’s just to feed him lunch and he had nothing to give her back. Losing contact with her son’s old childhood best friend- her _other_ son- without an explanation must’ve been confusing for her. Donghyuck doesn’t even know what excuse Jeno told her or if he even told her the truth.

He follows Anne into the kitchen and sets the first aid kit he’s been holding onto on top of the dinner table.

“ _We have marinated beef here and some rice. You can also make a wrap if you’d like,_ ” she lifts up the cover on the plates of food and sets a plate and chopsticks in front of him. “ _Jeno, heat up some rice.”_

After the microwave beeps, Jeno sets the bowl in front of Donghyuck. He gladly eats the food given to him. Throwing guilt out of the window; he’s hungry and there’s no fresh ingredients he can use to cook inside his house.

Anne sits in front of him, “So how are your parents doing?”

“ _Dad’s been busy with business lately_ and _Mom’s been working with some organizations abroad,”_ he reaches for the beef and puts it on top of his bowl.

They barely have family time anymore. His parents have been too busy with their jobs, and his brother being in university means he has less entertainment in his life. Donghyuck understand the situation they're in, it's not like he can easily change it. But he does miss the past when they had dinner together as a family or when they went out to the beach just because.

He's become more alone than when he's not.

 _“Ah, what about your brother?”_ she moves the sauce near his plate.

“Hyung’s still in uni,”

“What about you? What are you up to nowadays?”

“School musical. I also work at Target now, so there’s that,” he chuckles.

“ _Jeno doesn’t even have a job,_ ” she comments, looking at her son sitting by the kitchen island playing a game on his phone.

Jeno turns to look at her with a frown after pausing his game, “I’m working on it. This city’s just garbage.”

Donghyuck laughs in agreement yet Jeno subtly glares at him.

When he finishes eating, he sets the plates and utensils in the sink as he thanks Anne for the food.

“Just come here anytime, we always have extra for you,” she jokes.

“Sure,” Donghyuck replies with a smile.

Anne has always been there to take care of him and his parents have always trusted the Lees.

Jeno gets off the chair, “Let’s go.”

Donghyuck smiles at Anne again before following her son to wherever he was taking Donghyuck.

“Where exactly?” He asks Jeno as he follows him up the stairs.

“My room or the lounge? You choose.”

“It’s your house,” he mutters, confused as to why Jeno would take him anywhere that isn’t out and away from him and this household.

“My room it is.”

  

 

-

 

  

Donghyuck settles himself on the blue bean bag at the corner of Jeno’s room.

The boy’s room was definitely different from the last time Donghyuck visited their home. Well, it has been a few years since he was in Jeno’s room anyway.

The once blue walls were now white and the anime posters that used to be there were now gone (Jeno kept the figurines though). They were replaced by a small bulletin board with a few polaroids and notes on it.

Jeno sits cross-legged on his bed and watches Donghyuck and his wandering eyes looking around the room.

Donghyuck notices that the painting they worked on together during 7th grade was still put up on the wall. It was in a different place, but it was still there. The blues, reds, and yellows looking too vibrant and out of place in Jeno’s simple room.

Jeno looks at where he was staring at and fake coughs to get his attention back. Donghyuck abruptly turns his head, as if caught doing something illegal.

“Your explanation,” Jeno states.

Donghyuck scrunches his face in confusion, too lost in thought about the fact that Jeno still keeps something related to Donghyuck in his room, “Huh?”

“First aid kit.”

“Oh,” Donghyuck realizes. “It’s a wild story.”

“I have time.”

Donghyuck frowns, “Okay.” He crosses his legs too and proceeds with telling Jeno the story. The older boy listens and doesn’t say anything until Donghyuck finishes.

“I’m guessing there was alcohol involved,” Jeno raises an eyebrow at the younger boy. Donghyuck doesn’t really care if he was judging him.

“That’s how high school parties without guardians usually work, Jeno,” he points out. “It’s not like it makes you any better than me.”

Jeno ignores the comment. Donghyuck tends to talk to him like Jeno's patronizing him, but Jeno doesn't want to waste his time over more repressed anger and unspoken words between them.

“You could’ve knocked at the door, you know.”

“I thought no one was home, plus I didn’t think you’d willingly help me.”

But at the same time, who is he to judge when he always bitterly or defensively replies to Donghyuck.

“But I did. So, you’re welcome.”

“Well, you also probably hate me. So I didn’t think of asking you,” Donghyuck says, sounding less offended, more upset.

Jeno averts his eyes from the boy and chooses to look at the floor in front of the other’s legs. He changes the topic, “How has your life been though?”

“I’m alright,” Donghyuck replies, staring at the bottom of the bed before looking back at Jeno’s face. The boy doesn’t see Donghyuck staring at him, “What about you?”

“I’m good,” the older says. _With you or without I’m okay, I think_ was what he actually wanted to say.

“Except, yeah, I’m jobless,” he adds on and laughs. “I’m still in the football team though.”

“Keeping up the good grades I suppose?” Donghyuck asks. Jeno’s always been aiming for the top grades. It was one of the things Donghyuck was worried about; how it could affect Jeno’s mental health.  Balancing his football career with his school work and the constant prodding from his parents who have high expectations from him.

Even though they don't talk anymore, Donghyuck still watches from the sidelines.

Jeno raises his head, “Always.”

“My life isn’t as fun as yours,” Donghyuck says with a sigh.

Jeno raises his eyebrow, but in a playful way this time, “You literally broke into my house for a first aid kit. I think your life’s more fun than mine.”

Donghyuck laughs at the comment, “Yeah.. I guess. But you get what I mean.”

“It’s also kind of weird that we’re in senior year now.”

Jeno agrees and Donghyuck then tells the story about the school activities he’s in, as well as his part-time job. Jeno just sits and listens, he has always liked listening to Donghyuck talk.

The way he captivates his listener. His presence that’s filled with energy. The expressions on his face. The tone of his voice and the way his face lights up when he explains things he’s excited and passionate about. The movement of his eyebrows and the exposure of his teeth when he smiles- even if that’s weird to think of. It’s always been something Jeno liked to watch.

“That seems like a lot of fun,” Jeno comments after Donghyuck pauses, and this time he allows himself to genuinely smile.

The tension in the air caused by the urge to talk about their fallout was still there. But both of them chose to ignore it. Jeno just opts to stare at Donghyuck's face as he talks about his life without Jeno.

The short-lived moment was interrupted by Donghyuck’s repeatedly beeping phone. Jeno watches him take it out from his front pocket and check the messages he received.

 

**[September 30th, 4:42pm]**

**From: Jaemi(g)n(ore)**

**To: D-hyuck**

_im outside ur house. where are u? are u still asleep?_

_ive been ringing the doorbell for 3 mins_

_are u dead wtf_

 

“Uh, Jaemin’s outside waiting for me,” he tells Jeno, pocketing his phone, ready to stand up.

Jeno just nods and gets off the bed, “I’ll lead you out then.”

“I know the way, you don’t have to.”

 _“_ Right _,”_ Jeno thinks.

“It’s just manners. _Mom will kill me if I don’t see you out the door,”_ he explains to Donghyuck who laughs at his statement.

“Mom, Donghyuck’s leaving!” Jeno yells into the kitchen once they reached downstairs.

Anne yells goodbye from the kitchen and Donghyuck waves his hand as a farewell.

“Thank you by the way _,”_ he says to Jeno once he was outside the doorstep. “For the first aid kit and the food too.”

“No problem,” Jeno smiles at him. It doesn’t reach his eyes this time, but it’s there.

Donghyuck had one foot down the small staircase of Jeno’s veranda when Jeno calls back for him, so he turns back to look.

“And for the record, I don’t hate you. There’s no reason to, and I can’t even if I tried.”

Jeno closes the door before Donghyuck gets to reply. Donghyuck just stares at the door for a few seconds before he was reminded by his beeping phone about why he had to leave in the first place. Maybe his judgement was wrong all along?

Maybe Jeno doesn't hate him that much.

He ignores the text from Jaemin and just walks to his house lost in confusion. He finds his bestfriend eating a popsicle while sitting on the bench by the front of his house.

When he reaches the front steps of his home, Donghyuck forces Jeno’s last words to him at the back of his mind.

He stands in front of Jaemin, “Why are you here?”

“Where did you go?” Jaemin asks, too busy staring at his popsicle.

“I was at Jeno’s.”

Jaemin raises his head and his eyes widen, “OH? Seriously? Tell me more!”

Donghyuck opens the front door with his key, “Yeah... First, explain why you dropped by here without saying anything beforehand.”

Jaemin settles his hand holding the popsicle on his knee, “I just wanted to get out of the house. I can just go home if you’re busy though.”

The tone of his voice sounded less cheery than a few seconds ago; Donghyuck looks at his friend’s expression for a while and mentally beats himself up for coming off rude, “What are you waiting for then? Come inside, I’ll beat you in Mario Kart.”

Jaemin smiles at him and gets up to go inside.

 

 

-

 

 

After Donghyuck left, Jeno goes to his room and just flops down on his bed. He turns to the side and stares at the painting on the wall before deciding to get off the bed and go downstairs.

He finds his mom in the living room, sipping on a mug of green tea. He stands beside the couch for a while before sitting on its arm, “Mom, you know.. Donghyuck and I.. we don’t talk anymore _._ ”

“I know,” she says, setting her mug on the coffee table before turning to his direction. “Don’t you want to put an end to that?”

Jeno stares at the carpet, “I don’t think he wants to keep in contact though.”

“But it didn’t seem like it when he was here. Do you want to be friends with him again?”

He looks at her, “Yeah.”

“ _Jeno-ya,_ closure is important sometimes. It might be hard for the both of you to become close with each other again, but would you rather live your life wondering why you lost an important friendship or ignore your pride and find closure instead?”

What his mom said makes him pause and rethink his relationship with Donghyuck. Deep in thought, he doesn’t see his mom smiling warmly at him.

He thinks of the past when it was only him and Donghyuck against everything. The time when Donghyuck would come in the house at 1 in the morning- using the key Jeno’s mom gave him- just to show Jeno a video he found on the internet. It could’ve waited the next day, but Donghyuck always insisted _it’s now or never_ and he preferred watching Jeno see it firsthand.

Jeno misses him, he knew that. He was just too much of a coward to approach something that he lost.

He just tells himself _Fuck it_ and find that closure he wants. Even though he probably doesn’t deserve it because it was him who fucked everything up anyway.

He does miss the feeling of having Donghyuck asleep in his arms though.


	3. i'll be back

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i am truly very sorry for such a (super very very very very) late update 
> 
> but here it is

Donghyuck’s mom arrives home and sees the two boys completely focused on playing a game on the Playstation, both yelling obscenities which stops when they realize there’s another person in the house other than them.

Donghyuck ignores the game and drops his controller to greet his mom, “Hey ma.” He gives her a hug and a kiss on the cheek.

“Hi, auntie.” Jaemin waves his hand and pauses the game. “How was London?”

“It was great, not much of a jetlag.” she sets her handbag on the kitchen island.

Jaemin gets up from the carpet, walks to the kitchen, then sits on the chair beside Donghyuck who was leaning on the island.

“What have you been doing all week?” she goes back to the living room to retrieve her luggage.

“Not much,” Donghyuck replies.

_ Just you know, underaged drinking, got Chenle’s palm cut, trespassed into Lee Jeno’s house. _

“Must be a lot then,” she eyes him and checks for her keys in her jacket. “I have to run an errand, okay? I’ll be back soon.”

“You just got back though,” Donghyuck protests. “Have you had dinner yet?”

She pauses near the living room and looks at the two. She smiles, “I can leave you 30 bucks to buy pizza or whatever you guys want.”

Donghyuck tries to not frown, “Sure.”

She always gives him anything he wants to make up for the fact that she’s barely home anymore to care for him.

“Is Jaemin sleeping here tonight?”

The boy mentioned turns to look at Donghyuck and back to her, “Uh.. it wasn’t my intention. But if Hyuck wants me to, that’s cool.”

“You know you’re always welcome. And you can just borrow Donghyuck’s clothes,” she gives her son a 50 dollar bill before waving at them and disappearing out of the front door. "I'll be back later!"

“Well, great,” Donghyuck breathes out, smacking the piece of plastic on the kitchen counter.

Jaemin looks at him, trying to not show his concern, “More Overwatch?”

“Hell yeah.” Donghyuck grins.

 

 

-

  
  


A Marvel movie and a large pizza box later, Jaemin and Donghyuck lay on the latter’s bed in the dark, staring at the glow in the dark stars that Donghyuck pasted with Jeno on the ceiling when they were 8 years old.

The two didn’t want to risk breaking their sleeping schedule, so they were already in bed at 11:30 in the evening. It took Jaemin a whole month to finally get himself- and his sleeping schedule- together, but Donghyuck didn’t have a problem because if he wasn’t playing games on the Playstation or his phone, he was probably somewhere sleeping.

“There’s so many stars out there. We’re so insignificant,” Jaemin mumbles out of nowhere from beside him.

Donghyuck keeps his eyes on the ceiling studying the edges of the plastic stars. He hums in agreement.

“It’s wild that somewhere out there, there’s probably someone made for me,” Jaemin continues. He had his hands clasped on top of his stomach and once in a while he fiddles with his fingers.

“I don’t know if I believe in all of that anymore,” Donghyuck closes his eyes.

Jaemin turns his head to look at the older boy before looking back at the ceiling with a sad smile on his face, “That’s understandable... I just keep thinking of how apparently we’re made of stars and planets’ dust, you know, and some people are made of the same or similar dust. Something like that.”

Donghyuck lets out a laugh and opens his eyes to look at Jaemin beside him, “So like soulmates, right?”

“Yeah,” Jaemin nods. “Like soulmates.”

“Do you think you’ve found yours?” he asks.

It takes the other a few seconds to reply, “I don’t know. Well, I don’t think so. Like, how would you classify someone as your soulmate? Is it at the instant you meet them and you feel the connection or does it develop over time?”

“I think it’s different for everyone,” Donghyuck muses. “I read that there’s the romantic kind and the platonic kind of soulmates.”

Jaemin chuckles, “The universe is so interesting, dude. I could die right now and it won’t even have a big effect on anything.”

Donghyuck turns his head to look at Jaemin, but the other had his eyes closed, “You know it would have an effect on me. To us.”

Jaemin knew that of course.

“Yeah. I know,” Only the light from the window allows Donghyuck to see the expression on the other’s face. He couldn’t really read him.

“Sorry.”

But he doesn’t really need to be.

“Soulmates though. It’s an interesting concept,” Jaemin breathes out.

“It is, yeah.”

“I feel like in this world, you have multiple soulmates and one that just suddenly turns into a soulmate,” Jaemin continues. “I think, sometime, you’ll just meet someone that would have an effect on you as a person, and at that point they just merge into your ‘soulmate’.”

“Elaborate,” Donghyuck mutters, he doesn’t really know where Jaemin’s going with this.

Jaemin open his eyes just to roll them at Donghyuck. He turns to face the older by laying on his stomach, “I mean, just in general. Think of this: you can meet someone that you didn’t like at the moment you meet them, but once you get to know them you’ll get along well and become friends.”

“I think that just shows that you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover, not exactly soulmates shit,” Donghyuck retorts with a chuckle.

“Shut up. It doesn’t have to be the enemies to lovers trope all all the time,” Jaemin protests, aiming to hit Donghyuck’s arm, but he just ends up swatting the air.

“It can just be a friend that you didn’t expect to fall in love with, but as years pass by, you start loving them more than platonically. And when you realize that you love them, you also realize how you both know everything about each other. Then it makes you think ‘Maybe we’re soulmates.’”

“So, like, people can turn into soulmates if they both try?” Donghyuck asks.

“Yeah. If there’s genuine care, trust, and understanding. No matter how long it takes. I think that’s how you know you’re soulmates,” Jaemin lays back down on his back and fixes the duvet on top of him.

“And it doesn’t have to be that there was mutual understanding or connection at the first interaction, it can just develop overtime as time passes by,” Donghyuck says, more so to himself than to Jaemin.

“Yup. As long as the compassion and understanding is there,” Jaemin adds on. “But maybe that’s just what love is? Not exactly soulmates?”

_ It might be love not exactly soulmates. _

_ “ _ But if they weren’t your soulmate, but they merged into your soulmate? Does that mean they were basically destined to be your soulmate? So, technically they are your soulmate?” Donghyuck continues the topic, clearly confused.

“Maybe… Yes? Fuck. I don’t fucking know anymore,” Jaemin’s laugh fills the space of Donghyuck’s room. “My brain hurts.”

They don’t talk for a couple of minutes after that. Donghyuck lays there and thinks of the past. It wasn’t like Jeno and him got along at first try. Not with the language barrier they had when they were 5 years old anyway.

Donghyuck moved next to Jeno’s house only knowing Korean and the basic “Hello” in English. Jeno was raised in a bilingual household, but he still had trouble with his Korean- and the boy preferred to speak in English than his parents’ mother tongue.

The two still somehow made it work though.

With the help of Donghyuck’s English classes and Jeno’s Korean classes, they both started to understand each other more with words rather than actions. They were inseparable during that time, but that changed when they had their fallout by the middle of 9th grade.

“Anyways, ttyl.” Jaemin interrupts Donghyuck’s thoughts with a whisper. “I’m going to sleep.”

“Ttyl? I’m kicking you out.”

“Shut up,” Jaemin grunts before turning to the side, facing the window instead of Donghyuck.

“Good night, Jaem.”

“Night,” Jaemin replies.

  
  


-

  
  


Jeno waits. He doesn’t know why. 

He waits for Donghyuck to approach him first- with a smile, a wave, a hello, or anything- before he decides to talk to the boy again.

He wasn’t ignoring the process to get this  _ closure _ he wants, really. He just wants to receive a sign first if he should really do it and approach Donghyuck or not.

Someone slams their textbook on the table making Jeno jump up a little off his seat from the shock. He sees his bestfriend raising an eyebrow at him, curious as to why Jeno’s frowning at this time of the day. It’s not like he had a test or anything.

“Renjun, please.” Jeno whimpers.

“Good afternoon,” Renjun replies, setting his bag down on the grass. “What’s wrong with you?”

“Many things. But what’s wrong with you?”

He takes a seat beside Jeno, “If something’s wrong with a friend, it also bothers me.”

“Wow, real sappy hours,” Jeno chuckles, opening the foil wrapped around his sandwich.

“But, what’s up?” Renjuns continues to prod. “Is it about Donghyuck?”

Jeno takes a second to reply, staring at the sandwich, “Yeah.”

Renjun looks off at the field of grass in front of them. They were outside the school sitting at a table under a tree. He sees Mark, Donghyuck, and Jaemin running around the field.

“Speaking of the devil.”

Jeno looks at where his bestfriend’s looking at and he glowers at the three boys.

“Why are you like this today?” Renjun pokes his arm with a pencil.

Jeno watches Mark put Donghyuck in a headlock. He could hear Donghyuck’s faint laughter and screams from across the field.

Renjun glances at the boys and back at Jeno, singing that one EXO song but changing the lyrics, “Jeno’s a green eyed monster.”

Jeno looks at him with embarrassment, “I cannot stand you.”

Renjun laughs, “Just talk to him.”

Jeno props his chin on his hand, “I think he hates me.”

“Donghyuck?” Renjun states in disbelief. “I know he doesn’t like a lot of people, but hating you? Nah.”

“What makes you so sure?”

“He still pretends that you exist.”

“Yeah right. He acts like we’re strangers though,” Jeno continues to stare at the three boys who were now sitting on the grass.

“Well you act like it too. And I’ve seen how fake he can get, but he’s never talked shit about you,” Renjun informs him. It sort of helps, he guesses. “Even after all what happened.”

Jeno knows Renjun’s right. He just always chooses to not listen to what his gut’s saying. It wasn’t like he wanted anything more from Donghyuck. He just wanted the friendship back, and it would be selfish for him to want anything more than that.

“But, just listen to me. Talk to him.. I’m always right. but if it goes wrong, pretend I never said this,” his bestfriend grins at him.

Jeno rolls his eyes and takes a bite from his sandwich, “Okay.”

  
  


-

  
  


It was during the break between 3rd period and 4th period when Jeno passes by Donghyuck in the hallway.

The younger boy was talking to someone, but he gives Jeno a small smile when he sees him walking past him.

It takes Jeno a second for the smile to register in his mind. It was for him and no one else, but he was too late, Donghyuck was already gone in the crowd before Jeno even got to smile back.

It was alright though, it was the sign to proceed that he was waiting for.


End file.
